Posted on 10/04/2002 7:42:34 AM PDT by SheLion
MACHIAS — A Washington County Superior Court judge has postponed a decision in the case of a former Alexander man who used cocaine while on probation for a 1994 car crash that killed a friend and the man’s three young children.
Justice Nancy Mills said she wanted more time to review a pre-sentencing report for 30-year-old Ellis “Jamie” MacArthur and the letters of support his defense attorney said would show MacArthur’s progress since he was released from prison in January 2001.
Mills did not indicate when she would continue the hearing, but said it would take place in Washington County.
It has been almost 10 years since Washington County Superior Court Justice Susan Calkin found that MacArthur was under the influence of marijuana and driving recklessly when his car crossed into an oncoming lane on Route 1 in Barring and struck a Volkswagen Beetle driven by Ronald Armstrong.
MacArthur addressed Armstrong’s widow during Thursday court proceedings, saying he’d always wanted to apologize, but had been told by everyone involved in his 1995 trial that he should not attempt to talk with her.
“Patty, I’m so sorry, I’m just so sorry,” MacArthur said to Patty Meta, Armstrong’s widow and mother of the three children killed in the accident.
Meta addressed the court earlier in the proceedings, saying she’d never been able to forgive MacArthur, but she’d been able to let go because she believed that killing a friend and children “he sat with and held in his lap” would be enough to change his life.
That belief changed when she heard about his use of cocaine, she said.
“The same thing that killed those children and that man — he turns around and does it again,” Meta said. “I think he deserves to pay for it before he goes out and kills someone else.”
Washington County Assistant District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh is recommending that MacArthur be returned to prison for six years — the suspended portion of the 15-year sentence he received in 1995.
With the time off for good behavior that was permitted under previous Maine law, MacArthur served just a little more than five years of his nine-year sentence.
MacArthur’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker, said MacArthur’s use of cocaine — which was detected in two tests conducted by his probation officer on Aug. 20 and Sept. 18 — are directly related to the approach of the October 30 anniversary of the crash.
MacArthur has done very well on probation in every other aspect of his life, Toothaker said. He’s married, has two stepchildren, and supports both his family and his parents. Toothaker said MacArthur’s wife reports he becomes very upset at this time every year.
MacArthur also addressed the court, saying one of his problems is that he’s never been able to talk to Patty Meta about the accident.
“Even today, I’m not saying it just to make anything better,” he said “I’ve always wanted to approach Patty.”
To bad this man didn't just SMOKE!
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